Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 267 The Wrath of the Iron-Walled Lord: A Path Through a Flick of the Finger

On the walls of Qingze City, a salty, fishy wind ruffled the long hair of the elven elder Ysera. She once again ascended to the highest point of this heavily besieged city, leaning against the battlements and gazing into the distance.

As far as the eye can see, there is a murky expanse of water. The former fields, roads, and villages are now just a white, reflective expanse.

Amidst these white waves, clusters of black dots, large and small, slowly converged like a swarm of wriggling ants. These were human refugees from all directions, driven by swords and magic, continuously pouring towards Qingze City.

Their arrival was a bigger headache for the elven elder than the ferocious enemy troops outside the city.

My head is throbbing!

Following the Grand Elder's urgent order, Ysera led her troops to retreat into Qingze City. Considering the arduous siege battles they might face in the future, she imposed a state of martial law on the human city.

Over the past period of time, this city has caused the elves quite a bit of trouble.

As a major town in the Xiyue Federation, this place is home to countless people who yearn for their homeland and are unwilling to be ruled by "foreign races".

Some hid in the shadows, ambushing lone city guards, whether elves or humans assisting them; others destroyed important buildings, damaged public facilities, and even poisoned water sources; still others spread terror and resistance messages, calling on the humans in the city to fight back.

In contrast, the inherent arrogance of the elven warriors often makes them clumsy and inefficient in dealing with these "insidious tricks," and sometimes even exacerbates the conflict due to overreaction.

It wasn't until Ysera personally took charge of Qingze City and implemented a series of swift and precise measures that the situation was barely stabilized.

She adopted a series of measures, the first being to strictly separate professionals from civilians, and then to identify those who resisted and execute those with serious crimes, while expelling those with ordinary crimes.

For example, the mage Vincent was sentenced to death for his repeated acts of defiance, but out of consideration for the Lord of the Vast Sea, he was expelled from the city.

Ysera's move not only cleared the city of its rebellious atmosphere but also reduced the city's material burden as much as possible, since no one knew how long the siege would last.

Secondly, the treatment of human collaborators has been greatly improved, especially the local currency of Xiyue, which is given generously as a reward.

Ysera understood perfectly well that this thing was useless to elves. Even if they used it to buy things in enemy-occupied territory, how much could they buy? It was better to just distribute it.

Money has a remarkable effect on stabilizing people's hearts.

After this back and forth, the defenses of Qingze City were stabilized.

However, this period of good fortune was short-lived. Or rather, the real trouble was just beginning.

The order from the Silvermoon Elders was delivered to her via an encrypted magical beacon.

The contents of this order were unprecedentedly harsh, to the point that she could hardly believe her eyes.

"Any act of violence against human civilians is strictly prohibited. We must do our utmost to maintain order in the city and treat humans the same as elves."

"For disaster victims within the controlled area, we should provide assistance as much as possible and ensure their basic living conditions. We must resolutely prevent large-scale deaths of people due to insufficient supplies, hunger, cold, disease, and other reasons."

"Has the Elders gone mad?!"

The order, after circulating among the elven generals, immediately caused a huge uproar.

Most of the elven generals were incredulous: "We're already short of supplies! Those 'rats' in the city are constantly causing us trouble! And now we're asked to give up our precious food to save those lowly humans?"

"Yes, not cutting off their heads and hanging them on the city walls is already the greatest mercy our clan can show in accordance with the way of nature. And now we're going to share our life-saving food with them? Is the Elders... trying to kill us in this lonely city?"

Ysera closed her eyes, trying to sense the magical letter delivered by the night owl over and over again, attempting to find a flaw in it.

But no, this was indeed a special order from the Silvermoon Elders, especially that natural aura belonging to Elder Eona, which Ysera would never mistake.

As Iona's fervent admirer and number one fangirl, Ysera immediately disregarded the rationale behind the order.

"This is the supreme command of the Silver Moon!"

"implement!"

As the former captain of the Elven Guard and now the leader of the southward-bound legion, Ysera's authority was unchallenged. Therefore, despite their confusion and reluctance, the elves had no choice but to resolutely carry out the order.

Then, news came that Baishi City had taken in refugees, and the Iron Wall Legion besieging Qingze City began to drive refugees out of the city.

Following orders, Qingze City received its first batch of refugees. The enemy's probing had yielded satisfactory results, and the number of refugees grew from a few hundred to thousands, then tens of thousands...

Ultimately, those who entered the city were more than 300,000 refugees driven in from all directions by the enemy.

As the enemy relaxed their defenses slightly, scouts brought back news that even more refugees were being forced by swords, whips, and ice spikes to wade through the raging floodwaters and converge on Qingze City.

Qingze City is facing an unprecedented crisis.

Ysera has gone a little crazy.

In the past, this tactic would have been useless against the elves and would have even become a huge obstacle to the enemy's siege. But now, under the elves' new policy, these refugees have become a huge burden on Qingze City.

Or rather, the noose around Qingzecheng's neck is tightening day by day!

As she tallied the rapidly dwindling food supplies in the city, Ysera frantically dispatched all the Night Owls, carrying her heart-wrenching plea for help, desperately hoping for a reply from the Council of Elders.

Although owls have limited flight altitude and are not very fast, they can travel at night and fly without making a sound, making them one of the most difficult messengers to intercept in this magical world.

After anxiously waiting day after day, a reply finally arrived from Whitestone City.

This time, it wasn't a letter that arrived, but two people.

Olivia, the current captain of the Elven Guard, escorted Major Fungus of the Vast Ocean Territory. Under the cover of a full squadron of Elven air force, they circled around to the west side of Qingze City and forced their way into the city.

The arrival of the leader of the Han Hai army also signifies that this struggle surrounding Qingze City and the fate of hundreds of thousands of refugees has attracted the full attention of the lord far away on the shores of the Han Hai.

As a young man who had long been educated in the traditional culture of Dongxia, Chen Mo initially found it difficult to understand the inhumane actions of the Xiyue Federation.

What is particularly unusual is that this is not the treatment of the enemy's population, but the trampling and slaughter of one's own civilians.

Throughout Earth's history, even warlords and tyrannical rulers, considered typical reactionary forces, would not normally resort to such ruthlessness towards the people under their rule.

While exploitation is cruel and oppression is severe, at least rulers still need to use their manpower, financial resources, and loyalty to maintain their rule.

Draining the pond to catch all the fish is already a major taboo, let alone burning down one's own pond.

In his mind, the only people capable of such shameless acts were the comprador class who had completely sold their souls. After all, in their eyes, they only had foreign masters and no blood relatives.

In order to protect the interests of their masters and their own pitiful power, the comprador class is willing to betray all national interests;
For example, they could continue to pay reparations to the invading enemy even when they were being invaded, due to pressure from foreign powers; they could breach the dikes of their own rivers, drowning nearly a million people; they could tolerate their behind-the-scenes masters dropping incendiary bombs for tactical experiments, burning tens of thousands of their own civilians to death; and some even went so far as to invite the enemy to drop nuclear weapons on their own land...

Compradors who betray their country have no bottom line!
However, these rulers of the Xiyue Federation clearly do not fit the characteristics of compradors; they are the masters of this land themselves.

Why is that?

The simplest explanation is that, because of the huge gap between professionals and ordinary people, professionals do not regard these lower-class people as human beings.

Even the gods of this world seem to have tacitly accepted this "distorted" value system.

An absurd fact that cannot be ignored is that when Chen Mo placed a giant mushroom in the desert, the Divine Court immediately issued a solemn warning that its careless use would be subject to divine punishment. Yet now, a great flood has drowned hundreds of thousands or even millions of people, but the "Will of the Stars" and "various gods" have turned a blind eye.

The reason is simple: the flood won't kill a few professionals; the vast majority of those who die are ordinary people, so it doesn't matter!
This undoubtedly aroused Lord Chen Mo's great anger. After reviewing the intelligence from the front lines, the lord issued an order.

"Qingze City, as a banner for aiding refugees, cannot be lost!"

Thus, Major Junzi made a forced landing in Qingze City. Carrying the latest communication equipment, he first established an information network between Hanhai Territory, Baishi City, and Qingze City. At the same time, he began to preside over the support and coordination work in Qingze City.

The first problem that needs to be solved is the supply of materials to Qingze City.

Although the elves' execution capabilities did not meet the expectations of the Vast Ocean Territory, under Major Fungus's command, they still managed to complete a rough headcount, and then convened the first on-site liaison meeting of the three cities.

When Ysera saw Iona's noticeably aged and haggard face on the screen, her heart ached, and she rushed to the screen, bursting into tears.

"Elder, Elder! How...how did you become like this..."

Iona frowned, interrupting Ysera impatiently and even rudely: "Recently, supplies are scarce. 'Source Essence' must prioritize trade with the Vast Ocean and supplies to the army. I have banned the production of 'Moon Dew'."

"It's been a while since I had any skincare treatments, so it's normal to look a little older!"

"Stop talking nonsense, this call is charged on an interest-only basis!"

Ysera: "..."

Major Jun stood up, gave Chen Mo a standard military salute on the other side of the screen, nodded to the elven leaders such as Eona and Ysera, and then began his work report.

"Reporting to the lord, elders and generals, we currently have a total of over 43,200 elves and approximately 670,000 human civilians in Qingze City. There are also a small number of other orcs, half-orcs, and dwarves. The exact numbers are still being verified."

"Currently, we have worked with the elven garrison to complete the collection of grain from all official and private granaries in Qingze City. All grain has been centrally stored and registered."

"Furthermore, we have suggested to the elven garrison that a strict, timed rationing system be implemented for all living beings in the city, including elves, humans, and other races, in order to prolong the time before the existing food reserves are depleted."

It was called a suggestion, but the Elven race now obeyed Han Hai's suggestions without question, so it was no different from an order; it was just easier for both sides to accept.

Whether it's Eona, Ysera, or other high-ranking elves who are aware of the situation, they can only choose to continue listening to the advice of the Vast Ocean Territory in the face of this huge mess caused by their suggestion.

Major Junzi's report continued: "Based on reconnaissance of the area surrounding the city, the enemy is still driving refugees toward Qingze City. The reconnaissance team has used high-altitude drones to scan several main directions, and it is estimated that more than 200,000 refugees will arrive in the coming weeks!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression turned very unpleasant.

The elves looked grim because with so many people, just maintaining their basic survival would cause Qingze City's fragile logistics to collapse instantly. And if these humans, lacking food, were to eventually riot, the elves would probably have no choice but to either slaughter them or abandon the city and break out to let them fend for themselves.

Regardless of the situation, for these people, who originally had a glimmer of hope outside, they have now been sent to their deaths because of the Lord of the Vast Ocean's kindness. This is truly... a great irony.

Chen Mo's expression was grim because the quantity was much less than he had expected.

The Han Hai Territory cannot accurately assess the population of the floodplains, but based on previous statistics on the population density around White Stone City, it is estimated that there are at least three million people in this flooded area.

Now, with the enemy so relentlessly and inhumanely driving people away from all sides, the estimated number that will reach Qingze City is only around 800,000, which includes the population that was previously driven out of Qingze City.

How many people actually drowned in this flood?

Of course, this was not the time to investigate or dwell on such matters. After listening to Major Junzi's report, everyone turned their attention to the young lord.

Chen Mo rubbed his temples.

"First, I need to make one thing clear to the elders and commanders of the Elven race."

Lord Chen Mo's gaze swept over Ysera and the elven general behind her on the screen, and he asked directly, "From the current perspective, Qingze City is not facing much direct military pressure. The key issue is that the city's food and other survival supplies are being consumed too quickly, and the reserves cannot be maintained. Is that right?"

"Yes!"

Ysera glanced at the Grand Elder on the other side of the screen and nodded in affirmation.

"Because of the flood, the enemy outside the city has also been greatly affected. With 40,000 soldiers here, Qingze City will not fall!"

"Alright! Then there's only one problem left: how to maintain the supply of materials to Qingze City."

"I have already prepared a list here."

Chen Mo raised his hand, and a table filled with densely packed Eastern Xia characters, along with some Elven annotations, replaced the lord's face and was projected onto the screen.

“Your previous estimate was over 800,000 people in the near future, but we’ll be more generous and say 1 million.”

"We need to prepare at least a thousand tons of food per day, based on the minimum consumption required to sustain life!"

The elves gasped slightly.

"For drinking water safety, we plan to replace it with water purification equipment, one set for every 20,000 to 30,000 people. We will invest about 30 sets in the initial stage, and increase the number as appropriate later."

"When used with water purification tablets, there is no need to worry about the safety of drinking water for the time being."

"Let's not consider vegetables and meat for now. We can only maintain the refugees' physical functions to the bare minimum and prevent large-scale malnutrition diseases such as scurvy. The plan is to regularly supplement them with appropriate amounts of salt and... multivitamin tablets."

"Regarding medicines, we plan to supply the three most basic types: broad-spectrum antibiotics, antidiarrheal drugs, and painkillers. As for other special illnesses, we will try our best to organize human physicians in the city to handle them themselves."

"Finally, we also need to invest a certain amount of disinfection supplies, and if we have the capacity, replenish some weapons in the city."

"Based on comprehensive calculations by the logistics department of Han Hai Territory, the daily net supply of all the above materials needs to reach at least 1,120 tons!"

Chen Mo's long string of words, which contained a lot of technical terms, was difficult for the elders and high-ranking members of the elves to understand, but with the help of the annotations, they managed to grasp the general meaning.

In fact, even if Chen Mo didn't say it, the elves knew that transporting supplies was the best way to resolve the crisis in Qingze City.

However, with the great river in the middle, a vast expanse of marshland, and the enemy heavily surrounding them, even sending two people across by the Elven air force required a huge detour and resulted in the loss of nearly a quarter of their elite troops. How could they possibly deliver such a massive amount of supplies?
It seems there's only one possibility...

Before they could think it over, Chen Mo gave them a solution without hesitation.

"Some time ago, through some special sacrificial rituals, I invited twenty-two [Nine Heavens Six] transport drones. In addition to the two that have already arrived in White Stone City, I will mobilize another twelve to use the White Stone City field airfield as an advance base!"

"I will be responsible for all the transportation capacity. Special supplies such as water purification facilities and water purification tablets, salt and vitamin tablets, basic medicines and disinfectants will be transported directly from Hanhai."

"The grain needs to be procured locally in Baishi City, and transported to Qingze City by plane from Baishi Field Airport."

The table on the screen shattered and disappeared, revealing the young lord's face, which looked ordinary but was now undeniably handsome.

"With the warriors of the Elven race here, I have no worries about fighting!"

"Similarly, you don't need to worry about the supply transport with Han Hai here!"

The lord raised his hand and lightly touched the map.

"From this moment forward, you can consider this insurmountable barrier between White Stone City and Qingze City as—"

"It no longer exists!"

(End of this chapter)